Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the high school had benches in the student center. The benches were installed to provide students with a clean and comfortable place to sit before school, during lunch and after school hours. Due to issues with supervision, they were removed from the center and placed into storage. The decision to return the benches was approved in late October.

Losing seating in the student center also resulted in students losing access to the area. Last year, the center was, once again, open to the student body. The space was reopened without seating, which, according to members of the student government, forced those who went into this area to situate themselves on the floor. Hence, adding benches to the student center was a proposal initially introduced by the student government.

At the first student government meeting on Oct. 17, the topic of discussion revolved around ideas on tangible ways the school could be updated and how to boost student morale. With input from the student body, leadership came to the agreement that adding benches back to the student center would be the place to begin.

“[Students] kind of associate the idea of going to the cafeteria to just eat,” Mr. Nathaniel Langelli, social studies teacher and student government advisor, said. “Having a potentially more relaxing area to socialize could definitely boost morality.”

Benches resolved an issue prevalent in student discussions, but the student government and their advisers did not desire implementing them again until a set of rules was established. Together, student leadership and their advisers created a list of guidelines to place on a poster in the center. The list is as follows: use appropriate language, clean up the space, respect others’ personal space and belongings, use benches appropriately, use appropriate volume levels and stay within the student center unless given specific permission.

Student government hopes the decision to add benches will not only provide clean and comfortable seating for those who spend time in this space, but they will also encourage positive behavior since they were provided upon popular demand.

“Since the students were the ones who wanted to make this change, they would hopefully have more respect for the spaces because of the ownership aspects to it,” Langelli said.

Returning benches to the student center was a decision long awaited by the student body that was made possible through the power of student government. By providing seating in this area, students are granted a comfortable, clean substitute to sitting on the floor. 

“Emotionally speaking, just having a place to sit down and relax, outside of the cafeteria, would encourage a positive reaction to the change for the students,” Langelli said.